Dental bridges are one of the more popular methods of replacing missing teeth and with good reason. With a dental bridge, you can replace multiple teeth at once, saving you the trouble of needing numerous, singular dental implants to accomplish the same goal. But if you like the permanency of dental implants, there's a good solution you can get with dental bridges too. Here's what it is.
Standard Dental Bridges
While there's nothing wrong with standard dental bridges, they don't utilize dental implants or work very much like dental implants at all. Instead of being secured to implants underneath or above the artificial teeth, standard dental bridges are mounted on your neighboring teeth. However, this can make getting a dental bridge a tricky option if you don't have a remaining tooth on both sides to anchor to. This is where implant dental bridges come in.
Implant Dental Bridges
Implant dental bridges are, as the name implies, a combination of dental implants and bridges.
Unlike standard dental bridges, an implant-supported bridge is mounted onto dental implants, permanently fixing it in place. This is a great choice because you don't need neighboring teeth to support the bridge, and you don't have to worry about your valuable dental prosthetic popping out.
However, there are some significant perks over getting standard dental implants alone, too. Implant-supported bridges are designed to rely on only a few dental implants, depending upon how large the bridge is. This is actually a big difference and can benefit you in several ways.
For example, dental implant-supported bridges are usually less expensive than getting a mouthful of dental implants. This is due to fewer implants and a lack of need for crowns on neighboring teeth if there are any.
In addition, dental implant-supported bridges are also less invasive for your mouth. Since you'll need fewer dental implants with this type of bridge, the surgery will take less time and you'll be able to recover a little more quickly than if you'd gone with all dental implants.
Dental bridges and dental implants don't have much in common, but they can work together beautifully. If you've been looking for a solution to your multiple missing teeth and didn't want to commit the time or money to dental implants, this may be the solution for you. If you have further questions or want to set up an appointment to find out if you're eligible for implant bridges, get in touch with a dentist as soon as possible.
For more information on dental bridge services, reach out to a dentist.